“Therefore, Baudrillard believes that “things” and “needs” are false symbols, and he criticizes Marx's theory of use-value, believing that the latter also falls into the trap of capitalism's political economy, thus proposing his own symbolic political economy.

  Wu Qiren finished his report, clicked on the last slide, nodded his thanks to the teacher and a dozen or so of his classmates, and left the podium at the teacher's signal to wait for the next student's report.

  “ Thales!”

  The next moment, Wu Qiren, a former graduate student, woke up from his dream.

  He was curled up, lying on his back in a cold, ruined hole in the wall, feeling the chilly wind blowing from the gaps in all directions.

  Wu Qiren sighed, after five years of crossing over, he still had dreams of his previous life, the life before crossing over was certainly boring, but it was better than the miserable situation in front of him.

  “Thales, Thales!” A large hand reached out from outside the hole in the wall and grabbed Wu Qiren's ear, roughly grabbing him out of this small broken nest.

  This was a broken house, and through the half-collapsed roof, one could see the bright stars in the night sky, only the rows and shapes of the rivers of stars were incomparably unfamiliar to Wu Qiren.

  Wu Qiren couldn't resist the rough hand - what could a seven-year-old do? He was dragged on the rough brick floor, his knees scraped raw, but he gritted his teeth and said nothing, for the brutal Quaid was especially impatient with the cries of children, and it was said that he had once paralyzed the legs of a six-year-old girl who tried to trade tears for food.

  “I asked Rick, and your routine money this week is five coppers less than last week! Did you hide it?” The fuming Quaid looked like a ruddy-haired lion, his protruding nose making him more and more vicious.

  Wu Qiren was flung to the ground, and the rest of his gray eyes saw the holes in the wall around him, and the five beggars who shared the room with him, ranging from four to ten years old, were all trembling at the sound of Quaid's roar.

  Among them, in the innermost hole in the wall, one of the youngest short-haired girls was clenching her left hand, her face reddened, and was looking at Wu Qiren on the ground in fear, and in the hole next to her, Ned, a six year old boy, was even screaming out in fear.

  That was Kolya, and Wu Qiren knew what she was afraid of.

  In fact, Wu Qiren had been lucky this week; he, Beggar Thales - Wu Yuren's current name - had gotten a full thirty-seven coins this week, eighteen more than last week.

  But he only handed over fourteen coins to Quaid - the head of the Black Street Brotherhood who specialized in the beggar business - and took the rest of the coins, together with his own money that he had saved from two years of hard work, and ran to the Grove Apothecary Shop to “buy” the good helper Yanni at cost price. “Purchased” a pair of typhoid potion.

  Thales fed the potion to four-year-old Coria - getting typhoid fever at her age was pretty much a death sentence without the potion.

  In the five years since he crossed over, Thales had re-experienced the memory formation period from the age of two to seven, gradually retrieving bits and pieces of memories from his previous life from a clueless toddler, in which the child's memories appeared fragmented and scattered. Even so, each time he witnessed the death of another person during those two years of ignorance to lucidity, it made a lasting impression on Thales.

  From dying from illness, falling, drowning, hanging, to being beaten to death alive (there was even a time when Thales witnessed a crying beggar child being asphyxiated with his powers from ten meters away), the Black Street Brotherhood, which specialized in the business of human traffickers, had never had any bottom line or principles - even gangsters needed time to settle down with rules and order, and the The Brotherhood, which originated from the black streets, has only been around for the first ten years from its rise to its growth.

  Moreover, even the Brotherhood's nemesis, the Blood Bottle Gang, which had a history of ninety years and was known as “the aristocracy of the gangs”, did not necessarily have fewer blood debts in its hands.

  Most of the time, witnessed the death of Thales can not do anything, even he himself, but also through the wisdom and sophistication of an adult, only to avoid more than one killing.

  Now, for example, a fist-pumping, exuberant Quaid was showing the brutality and viciousness characteristic of a gangster sadist in his eyes.

  “I ain't got no personal stash! It's winter this week, and there are a lot fewer people passing through the three lower city districts-” Thales got up from the ground, his mind racing as he spat out the made-up excuse.

  “Snap!”

  He was greeted with an unmerciful slap that sent Thales stumbling back to the ground.

  “Hand over the stash, then I'll beat you up! Or I'll beat you up and then you hand over the money! Take your pick!”

  Obviously, Quaid didn't want to hear his explanation; the frat leader might just want to scrounge up some booze money, or he might simply be looking for a beating.

  “But you can also be tough - tough kids are my favorite.” Quaid smiled sarcastically and moved his fists.

  Looking at the fist as big as a sandbag in front of him, Thales knew that even if he said nothing, Quaid wouldn't let himself go.

  And it was only last month that Quaid had abused a fifth house beggar alive.

  Thales covered his red, swollen cheek and thought quickly.

  On weekdays, Quaid did not care about the accounts, once the night went to the underground street Sunset Bar to hang out or hold a bottle of wine hanging around him, it is also difficult to distinguish a Mindis silver coins can be exchanged for how many Middel copper coins, not to mention how many of the beggars under his hands to pay the example of the money - that is his deputy, seemingly down-to-earth and steady Riker is responsible for, and even a shrewd And even a shrewd man like Rick knew that a fluctuation of seven or eight copper coins per week per beggar was simply too normal.

  Someone had snitched.

  That was the only conclusion.

  Thales glanced around at the surrounding beggars, having begged money from the noblewoman himself, he went straight back to the ruined house, it must have been the children in the same house who saw it, and under harsh circumstances, children's hearts could become even more horrible than adults could imagine.

  Quaid kicked again, and Thales stealthily shielded his stomach with his elbow, dislodging the force slightly and putting on a pained face, like he was in agony from the kick - he couldn't make a sound, Quaid loved it when kids screamed.

  “I said!” Fear showed on Thales' face, “Don't hit me!”

  “That depends on my mood!” Quaid looked around the room and saw the other five beggars cowering in fear, which satisfied him that his authority was respected.

  “I ran into a noble lady Wednesday morning, and she gave me almost ten coppers!” Thales hid in a corner and shuddered out.

  “I knew it! Begging? It must have been stolen, right? No one can hide from me, especially not you little thief!” Quaid rubbed his palms together viciously, preparing for the next round of beatings, “Hand over the money!”

  Not waiting for Quaid's eyebrows to rise, Thales added, “But I'm going to Red Square Street!”

  “Red Square Street?” Quaid lowered his raised palm a little more, “You went to the Blood Bottle Gang's territory?”

  “Yes, we can't really beg for more money at our place.” Aside from the Brotherhood's men, skilled rangers, and certain guys with a special purpose, who would be so ungrateful as to balk at the three abandoned districts near the Black Street? Not even the city guards with their swords and shields would want to go near this sin-ridden place.

  “I got that much money the first time, and the Blood Bottle Gang didn't show up, and then I thought that I might have a chance the next day.”

  “Stupid!” Quaid kicked Thales hard. Thales saw Coria shaking in the distance, only to hear Quaid cursing, “And don't think about it, the Blood Bottle Gang's territory, are there that many bargains to be picked up?”

  Thales's body shrank a bit and trembled, “Yes, the next afternoon, the Blood Bottle Gang caught me, they hung me up, I said I was lost, they didn't believe me, I handed over all my money, and they still wouldn't let me go.”

  “Rubbish! How did you escape then?” Quaid spat harshly.

  “Then I said I was one of Boss Quaid's men, and they, they just laughed and laughed.”

  “What?” Quaid clenched his fists as he grabbed Thales by his tattered, ragged linen collar and lifted him from the corner, “They laughed at what?”

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  Thales shook his head in confusion, “I couldn't quite make out - what they were saying. ”

  Quaid stared at him fiercely, “Tell me! ”

  Thales pretended to be frightened, shaking and trembling, “There was a bald man among them, and he said that since he was a child under Quaid, he would leave him alive because Quaid needed children so much-”

  Before Thales could finish, he was slammed hard against the wall by Quaid!

  He shielded his head and chest and stomach as best he could, taking the impact of the wall with his back, then immediately turned his back toward Quaid to meet the heavy blows of his fury, all the while feeling the force of the heavy blows and switching the angle of his back at all times to cushion the blows.

  “Bitch-raiser - you - bald - Spine - he How do you know--kill you--kill you--waste--stupid! --”

  Quaid yelled furiously, kicking at Thales one after the other, hissing words that could only be discerned as a few words.

  In the broken hole in the wall, several children watched in horror as Thales was severely beaten, but all held their mouths tightly shut to keep quiet.

  Thales breathed a sigh of relief as he endured the wild kicks that Quaid rained down on him.

  At least, now Quaid wouldn't be asking questions about where the extra money had gone, and, horrible as it looked, a raging, frenzied Quaid was far safer than the one who tortured children when he was in a happy mood.

  Half-truths in what he said, Thales did go to Red Square Street, but he stayed hidden in the corner of a dark alley, watching his surroundings discreetly, and he did meet a noblewoman in a gossamer frock, but she was followed by twenty Terminal Swordsmen, which is why the Blood Bottle Gang didn't interrupt him as he ran out of the alley to beg, and at the hands of the gossamer noblewoman, Thales did beg for twelve coins (he certainly wasn't stupid enough to make a move to steal them in front of twenty Terminal Swordsmen), but he didn't wait for the noblewoman's group to get far away before quickly disappearing through the crowd, never to return.

  As for Bald Spine, Thales had never seen him before, knowing only that he was the leader of the Blood Bottle gang of thugs who collected black accounts. Quaid, on the other hand, used to be a black-bill-collecting thug in the Brotherhood - until one time Quaid messed with the wrong guy and got his lower body broken, which, on the other hand, was a bit more hush-hush, and was only learned by Thales when he lay down in the corner of the Brotherhood's big house and listened to the room as Killer Layyork and Belicia, two of the Goblins, laughed at Quaid privately as they fought.

  By the time Quaid had finished venting his anger, cursing the Blood Bottle Gang's bald Spin while pulling the bottle out of his arms and cursing as he left, Thales's back clothing was shredded open and his back was bruised. Because Thales had deliberately turned sideways to avoid a frontal blow, blood had also been scraped and scratched in some places, and the pain came in bursts.

  As the blood flowed to the ground, Thales only felt a fiery pain hit him, probably because it had been too long since he had been punched, and he felt as if his muscles were on fire.

  Since crossing over to this world, getting beaten and starved, sick and cold was a common occurrence, but after gradually retrieving the memories belonging to graduate student Wu Qiren, with caution and the experience he once had, Thales hadn't been beaten up so viciously in a long time.

  After Quaid's voice faded away, the other five children in the house climbed out of their holes and skillfully carried the immobile Quaid out into the yard, where ten-year-old “Big” Sinti grabbed a curved piece of broken bowl and went to the water tank to scoop up water. Cripple Ryan and Blackface Kellett, both eight years old, struggled to gather dead branches and weeds. With flint they endeavored to start a fire. Yellow-haired Ned, six, and Coria, the youngest, picked a few oddly shaped wild leaves, chewed them in their mouths, and gently rubbed them on Thales' bruised back.

  Thales fought through the pain and tried to find some sort of distraction, looking at the watering Kolya and turning to the drooping yellow-haired Ned, doing his best to sound calm.

  “It's okay Ned, I don't blame you.”

  Ned's head snapped up, his face filled with horror, and the other four children turned their eyes to him.

  “How did you know?” The six year old couldn't hide his heart, guilt and horror written all over his face.

  Just now, as Thales was being severely beaten by Quaid, the three slightly older children were all staring dead ahead despite their fear, except for Kolya and Ned, one hiding her face in her hands and afraid to look up, the other looking into the wall, occasionally turning her head to glance in horror.

  Coria's typhoid medicine was where those coppers ended up, and she certainly wouldn't rat on them, but Thales was still not sure it was Ned, and now there was no more doubt.

  He tried to squeeze out a smile, “It's all right, Quaid won't be meddling in this anymore.”

  “I, I,” Ned's face was red beyond recognition as he looked at Thales' back, tears falling down his face, ‘I haven't begged for money this week and I'm too scared to steal it,’ he sobbed, ”Ric didn't say anything, but Quaid was very upset, and he said that if I did that again, he would sell me to the Great Desert to feed the barren bone men, and I was so scared that I told him, and said Thales, Thales you got back so many, many copper coins ...... the other day, and I thought they wouldn't take me ...... that way, and Quaid just sent me back, and said he'd come over in the evening ......”

  Coria's face reddened as well, and her hand wiping the herb shook so violently that a few more drops of blood dripped from Thales' back to the ground. Thales groaned silently, the burning pain only subsiding, now fueled by Coria's actions.

  Ryan stared angrily at Ned, causing the latter's head to drop even lower, while Kelit looked at Ned and then at Thales in surprise, and only Sinti silently said nothing as she continued to bring the water over.

  “It's okay, Ned, Kolya,” Thales felt as if his back seemed to be healing quite a bit, and he gently took Ned's hand in his, ”Next time, if either of you can't get any money, let me know and I'll figure something out.”

  Ned cried harder, his words a little muffled with sobs, “Tay--Thales, I'm--I'm sorry--I'm sorry. --”

  “It's okay now Ned, don't be afraid, I always have a way.” Thales smiled and took the broken bowl from Sinti's hand, taking a sip of water.

  He turned his head and drew in a soft breath, his luck undoubtedly much worse compared to the countless predecessors who had traveled through countless worlds.

  But even so.

  He looked around at the five children, especially Kolya, who had just recovered from her typhoid fever and still had panic lingering in her crystalline eyes.

  We'll have to find a way to beg for more money tomorrow, he thought.

  ---------- --------

  In the Sunset Temple of Eternal Star City, after finishing the benediction at sunset, a trainee priest who was tidying up the altar stopped what she was doing and looked in surprise at a sacrificial lamp filled with eternal oil under the stone altar.

  In this unremarkable sacrificial lamp, which had never been lit or used since she started taking care of the altar, a bright yellow flame suddenly flared up.

  The flame in turn suddenly turned red and crimson, like the color of blood, and grew more and more intense.

  One of the older priests noticed the intern's disorientation, and she scolded her disgruntledly, before the intern turned her attention back to the altar. But it wasn't until the priest herself saw the unusual sacrificial lamp that the older one shrieked.

  “Nia, quick, inform the Lord High Priest!”

  The older priest's surprise could not be concealed, and she trembled as she flung herself in front of the sacrificial lamp, raising her right palm and turning her left palm upwards in preparation for the prayer pose.

  What was going on here? For the first time, intern Nia saw the honorable priest-sama so out of sorts that she herself was affected.

  Did I make a mistake? But I didn't touch that lamp.

  “But, but, what should I tell the Lord Priest? That someone secretly lit, lit a lamp next to the altar?” Nia asked in a panic.

  “No.”

  The older priest stared at the lamp dead in the face, the prayer form in his hand shifting constantly.

  “This lamp, even if you exhaust the two continents and countless islands of the entire world of Errol, there is only one person who can light it.”

  “That person, will determine the future of the kingdom.”

  （The phrase "Wu Qiren" in Chinese denotes that this person does not exist.）